when I hear the crowds shouting, it makes me want to run faster

December 1, 2023 8:36 AM

Speaking to me during an interview at his home outside of Eldoret (known as the City of Champions), Kenyan marathoner Elisha Rotich highlights the social factors in his own running career: "in our culture we say kidole kimoja hakiui chawa [Kiswahili for “a single finger does not kill a louse”]... One person can’t win gold."
posted by spamandkimchi (3 comments total)

I run half marathons and do decently for an amateur that only took up the sport in his thirties and have a life outside of it, namely, I can do one in under two hours with destroying myself in the process.

The last major race I ran, the half marathoners ran with the marathoners with the latter then peeling off for the remainder of their race. The race course had a number of out and backs. I was about 7.5km in when the lead marathoners passed me going the other way - you first see them and think they are just loping along at a casual jogging pace, until they get closer and you realize they are running twice as fast as you and they're going to do twice the distance you are today. The winner of the marathon finished maybe twenty minutes after I finished my half. And yes, they were all Kenyan and East African runners. It's impressive to see Kiptum and Kipchoge run on TV - but it's even more impressive to see their peers do that in person in a real race, and realize you are physically incapable of even approaching that level.

Thank you!
posted by fortitude25 at 9:34 AM on December 1, 2023

Thanks for this link! I'm making my way to Sacramento for the California International Marathon this weekend, and this is exactly the kind of inspiration I need.
posted by all the versus at 10:23 AM on December 1, 2023

I'm a bit weak in the wind; so I can, and do, run up 4 flights of stairs but can't talk, can barely stand, on arrival. Full of admiration [don't do envy] for folks who can, and do, run. Hat-tip to Brother Colm O'Connell from Caherduggan Co. Cork who has been a catalyst for Kenyan athletes to run their best race.
posted by BobTheScientist at 2:42 PM on December 1, 2023